Jacalynn’s journey of love, tragedy
Jacalynn’s journey of love, tragedy
Many knew 17-year-old Jacalynn Faith Hernandez as shy, quiet and caring.
Others saw her as strong and courageous through running track and her tragic battle against Valley Fever during the last two years of her life.
Last Saturday, more than 100 relatives, friends and community gathered to remember a young Latina whose life was cut short by the disease.
But Jacalynn left behind her story that will be told as part of a Valley Fever awareness campaign.
Perhaps her journey with a disease caused by a fungus that lives in the soil will educate others and help find a cure, family members said.
“She was one of the sweetest and quietest of my granddaughters… and caring,” said abuela Mary Stella Aguilar Hernandez. “She was a fighter.”
“As a grandmother, you never expect your grandchildren to go before you,” Hernandez said.
The funeral service, held at Valley Bible Church in east Bakersfield, attracted many loved ones and community members who wore pink shirts with Jacalynn’s picture printed on the back and a pin that read, “We fight the fever.”
The 17-year-old died Aug. 1 at UCLA’s Mattel Children’s Hospital after being diagnosed with it more than two years ago.
Her passing, often referred as “a death out of order,” deeply touched the lives of those who knew Jacalynn as a healthy track runner and a happy young girl.
“I’m really sad that this happened to her. It’s sad to see such a beautiful girl go like that,” said Susana Vargas, 37.
Vargas said Jacalynn and her daughters, who are cousins, used to spend the night together.
Jacalynn’s main reason to continue fighting the disease was her love for her parents and her family.
Jacalynn’s father said her ordeal with Valley Fever started right after her first year as a freshman at Bakersfield High School.
He said she was always feeling sick with headaches and vomiting. She then developed a large pimple on her nose that looked like a spider’s bite — a lesion from the disease.
Since then, Hernandez said Jacalynn spent in the hospital even two to three months at a time. The last time, however, she was hospitalized in November and stayed there until her recent passing, he said.
“She was told on her 17th birthday that she had less than 10 percent chance to survive, but she pulled it through,” he said. “From Day One, she never gave up fighting.”
Unfortunately, the fungus spread beyond her lungs and attacked her spleen, liver, gallbladder, skin, bones, bloodstream and brain, causing meningitis.
While Valley Fever was not new to her family - several of Jacalynn’s close relatives, including her mother, Michelle Melendez, have also fought it - they had never experienced the fatal form of the disease.
Valley Fever, technically known as Coccidioidomycosis, or “Cocci,” is a fungus that is picked up from the soil. When the spores become wind-borne and are inhaled into the lungs, the infection develops.
Some people may experience flu or cold symptoms. In some cases, it can get more serious with pneumonia-like symptoms requiring medication. Others — about half of the victims — may have it but not feel sick at all.
Jacalynn’s family decided to partner with of Valley Fever Vaccine Project of the Americas to share Jacalynn’s story as part of an awareness campaign.
Sandra Larson, executive president of the group, said Jacalynn’s highly publicized case is making a difference.
Her parents will speak at some events and the awareness campaign featuring Jacalynn will help raise money to develop a vaccine.
An average of 10 to 11 people die from Valley Fever every year in Kern County, Larson said.
“It’s less than the risk of being injured in a car wreck, but if you are injured in a car wreck, you know what happened” Larson said. “If you breath in one of those spores, you may not know what happened and it may remain undiagnosed. And, that’s the danger.”
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